


I Taste Jasmine On My Tongue

by orphan_account



Series: Finish What You Started 2K17 [1]
Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Codependency, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Psychosis, Religious Fanaticism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 07:41:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11436279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: In the aftermath of Charlie Rules the World, Dennis remains convinced that he is God and sets out to proselytize the gospel of himself.A continuation of the ficI Feel So Proud When the Reckoning Arrives.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [I Feel So Proud When the Reckoning Arrives](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3573119) by [orphan_account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account). 



> I've had immense guilt about never finishing this story for like two years and I'm kind of on a writing cleanse or something where I'm cleaning junk out of my folders and posting it and I was like. . .I know I orphaned this but maybe I should revisit it anyway. As it turns out, I'm a very different person than I was in March 2015, so the end is about 95% different than I originally intended. However, I like it better this way so. . .I think it will all work out.
> 
> To understand what's happening, you will have to read the other fic first.
> 
> Blanket content warnings for: psychosis, physical injury, psychological abuse, referenced violence against women, threats of violence, violence against a mentally ill person, ableist slurs, referenced drug use, drug abuse, and alcohol abuse. It is no understatement that I think the fic this is continuing from is near the top of the list in 'darkest things I've ever written.' This fic is not going to be even nearly as dark as the original but that fic is still its dad so that's not saying much.
> 
> Hope you like it.

Dennis slept for hours with his arms wrapped around himself. Mac paced around the apartment with a bottle of vodka in hand. He didn’t move Dennis from the floor. His friend looked pathetic now, but an intimate familiarity with Dennis’s sex tapes was all the proof he needed that Dennis’s violence wasn’t an empty threat. The swiss army knife jostled in his pocket as he wandered aimlessly through the living room, dining room, and kitchen. It jingled softly against quarters and keys. Mac had never asked why he carried it around. Like so many things about Dennis, he hadn’t wanted to know.

The options here were sparse on the ground. Mac had so many warrants out for his arrest that calling the police or an ambulance to their apartment might get him recognized and taken to jail. He wasn’t equipped to do much of anything if Dennis was violent again except beat him up out of defense. Mac scrolled through his phone until the names blurred. Finally, he stopped pacing, rested his face in his palm, and sighed. There was no better option – he was going to have to eat crow.

Mac dialed the number, and put his phone to his ear.

“Dee, can you come over? I need you to help me with something.”

***

Dee’s eyes grew wide as soon as she opened the door. She shook the snow out of her hair as she said, “Holy shit. It looks like a tornado blew through here.”

As she went to close the door, Mac said, “Close it quietly. I don’t want him to wake up.”

She closed the door as softly as possible, and hung up her coat on the rack.

“Where is he?”

Mac pointed across the room. “He’s passed out on the floor over there.”

Dee wove a path around the wreckage, giving Mac pointed looks the entire way. When she got to Dennis, she said, “Jesus Christ.”

Bruises were blossoming all over his body, dark like wine. His mouth was caked with dried vomit. Up close, Mac could see that he was shivering. Dee reached her foot out to poke at him, and Mac clenched a hand around her wrist.

“Do you have a death wish?”

She rolled her eyes.

“Not all of us are idiots who can only respond to Dennis’s temper tantrums by knocking him out.”

“You weren’t there, Dee,” said Mac. “I’ve never seen him that nuts before. It was like he was possessed or something.”

“I told you he was a psycho,” said Dee. She cupped her hand to her ear. “What’s that sound? Oh, is it the sound of me being right?”

Mac glowered at her. “Your hearing must be busted because all I hear is the chirping of a really annoying bird.”

“Oh my God. Do you want me to help you or not?” she said.

Mac looked at his feet, lead settling in his stomach. “Yes.”

“Ok, then. You’re gonna have to follow my lead,” she said.

Mac sighed. “What do we do first?”

“I have to figure out how far gone he is. So, if you’re gonna be a pussy about it then go be useful and dig up your stash of Valium,” she said.

Dennis twitched, and Mac’s heart clenched with anxiety.

“Ok. I’m gonna go find it. But just so we’re clear, it’s not because I’m scared. I was very badass the entire time before you got here –”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Dee, shooing him away. “Just hurry up and find it before he gets a chance to get really pissy again.”

***

“How dare they disrespect me? I am the god of that campus! Do they have any idea who they’re dealing with?”

_Dennis was pacing back and forth in Dee’s apartment. She sighed, and rolled over on the couch to face him._

_“Dennis, you got high on coke and choked a girl who turned you down. Thirty days probation is nothing.”_

_He clenched his fist tighter around his beer bottle, and took another swig. Then, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand._

_“I wouldn’t expect a mortal to understand,” he said._

_Dee groaned. “You have got to knock it off with this god shit. It’s driving me nuts.”_

_Dennis stopped pacing and said, in a low, faraway voice, “I had a vision that this would happen.”_

_A chill ran up Dee’s spine when he turned his head to look her right in the eyes. They were glazed over. She looked at the floor around his feet to see how much he’d had to drink. Six beers and he’d only been here for an hour. Shit._

_“What kind of a vision?” she said as she sat up._

_“That people would lose the faith,” he said, in the same chilling voice. “That my hand would be forced away from benevolence.”_

_Dee suppressed a nervous laugh. “Are you sure you were all that benevolent to begin with?”_

_“I have. . .urges,” said Dennis, harsh and tight. “Ones I restrain.”_

_He gazed around the apartment with an intense gleam in his eye. Dee’s stomach clenched with familiarity as a scene – broken furniture, burned skin, handcuffs – flashed through her mind’s eye. She got to her feet, and stood as tall as possible._

_“I swear to god, Dennis, if you smash up my apartment I’m calling the cops.”_

_Dennis walked towards her slowly, until he was standing close enough for their foreheads to touch. “Do you really think the cops could contain a god?” he said in a low voice that made her shiver._

_Her heart raced as she grabbed his wrists tightly and said, “Listen to me. You are not a god.”_

_A look of fury appeared on his face, and he tried to squirm away. However, he wasn’t very strong, and was no match for her grip._

_“You bitch! Let me go!” he screamed, closing his eyes. His beer bottle dropped to the floor, and the liquid inside splashed on her leg._

_“Hey!” she said, tugging on his arms. “Look at me! Look in my eyes. You are not a god, Dennis.”_

_“Yes I am!” he screamed, stomping his foot like a toddler. Her anxiety subsided; Dennis was going to get worn out from his tantrum very soon. Dee rubbed his palms with her thumbs – a bulletproof way to speed up the inevitable._

_“Calm down,” she ordered. His squirming slowed._

_“Get your hands off me,” he ordered in a pathetic, tired voice._

_“I’ll let you go when you stop acting like a psycho,” said Dee. Dennis let out a shuddering sigh, and opened his eyes._

_“Ok.”_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same content warnings apply.

Once Mac left the room, Dee poked Dennis in the side with her foot.

“Dennis, wake up,” she said. Her brother groaned.

“Few more minutes,” he said. “I’m doing. . .thing.”

Dee crouched down, and snapped her fingers in her brother’s face.

“Nope. Time to get up, sunshine.”

Dennis’s eyes fluttered open. “Dee? What the hell are you doing here?”

“Something to do with you trying to murder Mac in a psychotic rage,” said Dee.

He tried to sit up, and winced. “You sure? Feels like that son of a bitch tried to murder _me_.”

“He fought back instead of calling 911. Emergencies apparently aren’t our local sheriff’s strong suit,” said Dee.

“Probably didn’t want to get arrested. Goddammit, Mac,” he said. Dennis finally managed to sit up, and splayed his legs out in front of him. He sniffed his shirt, and wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Jesus Christ. Did that bastard let me sleep in my own puke too?”

“He was too scared to move you,” said Dee. Dennis clenched his fists.

“Where is he?” he said in a cold voice. “Bring him to me.”

As if summoned, Mac left the bathroom, gazing intently at the pill bottle in his hand.

“I know these are benzos but I’m not really sure which ones. Does it matter which kind?” he asked. Then he looked up, and saw that Dennis was awake.

“Hey, Dennis,” he said in a small voice. Dennis’s face contorted with rage.

“You son of a bitch,” he said, stumbling to his feet ungracefully. “You bastard.” He ripped the filthy shirt off of his back, and threw it at Mac’s face.

“Dennis, what the hell –”

Dennis laughed, sounding unhinged. “Don’t act like you don’t know what’s going on, asshole. Spinning some bullshit story about how I tried to murder you.” He ripped off one of his shoes, tossed it towards Mac’s head, and missed it by inches “Calling up my goddamn sister so you didn’t get arrested for beating me up.” He pulled off another shoe, and tossed it at Mac’s chest. This time it hit home, and Mac cried out in pain.

“Dee, do something!”

“Can’t even fight your own battles when I’m not blacked out. I’m going to fucking kill you –”

Dee stood up, heart racing, and grabbed him from behind by the wrists. “Slow down, crazy,” she ordered.

“Let me go, Dee!” said Dennis as he squirmed. “That filthy rat bastard needs to get what’s coming to him.”

Dee gripped his wrists tighter. “Oh, I agree,” whispered Dee into his ear. “Mac is the worst.”

“I wanna murder him so bad,” Dennis whined.

“Hey, I get it,” she said as she began to rub his palms with her thumbs. “I think we’ve all been there. But the thing is – I don’t think you’re in the right shape to do it properly. If you kill Mac, you deserve to really enjoy it.”

Dennis closed his eyes, and melted into her touch. “That sounds pretty good.”

“Mhm. I bet a nice Valium would feel pretty good too,” said Dee, leading him over to the couch. He sat down on it, and yawned.

“Yeah, it couldn’t hurt,” he said. Dee motioned for Mac to bring her the pill bottle. He set it down on the coffee table, and backed away again.

“Hold out your hand.”

She dumped a single blue pill into his outstretched hand. He dry-swallowed it like a champ.

“Thanks, Dee,” he said, sinking into the couch.

Dee nodded.

“Yeah. . .thanks,” said Mac. He walked over to the couch, and sat down next to Dennis. Then, he turned the TV on. “You can pick the channel.”

“I wanna go to sleep. Put on History,” Dennis mumbled.

“Is my job done here?” said Dee.

The two men ignored her as they stared intently at the black and white fighter planes whizzing around onscreen.

“Can I go home now?” she asked, a little louder. Mac turned up the volume on the tv to drown her out.

“Dee, I can’t hear the TV over the sound of your squawking,” said Mac. Dennis burst into laughter.

“Good one, man,” he said.

“Screw you guys,” she said. Mac turned up the TV even louder.

She made sure to slam the door extra hard behind her to make sure that both of them would hear it.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The final chapter. I can't really express how much it means to me to have finally finished this. To anyone who ever reads this - thank you. Finishing this project was my white whale for years for a variety of very personal reasons. It feels good to be finally finished.
> 
> Content warning for mention of death, hypothermia, and vomit.

_Mac was naked and trudging through filthy snow. His feet were growing numb, and his fingers ached from the cold. Anxiety thudded through Mac’s heart as he walked in the grass next to the Schuylkill River. Dennis had gone missing._

_Finally, he spotted a Dennis shaped figure sprawled out in the snow. He jogged over and – shit._

_Dennis’s lips were blue, and his breathing was labored. His eyes were closed. Mac crouched down, and slapped him in the face._

_“Dennis, wake up!” he said._

_His friend’s eyes fluttered open, and Mac breathed a sigh of relief._

_“Oh, dude. Thank god you’re alive –”_

_Dennis made a hand motion to silence him._

_“No. I’m dying, Mac,” he said. “I was saving my last words for you.”_

_“What?” said Mac, his heart in his throat._

_“You killed me, Mac,” said Dennis, closing his eyes again._

_Mac grabbed him by the shoulders. “No! I didn’t know it would go this far –”_

_“You didn’t care,” said Dennis. “Remember this: idle hands are the devil’s workshop. Goodbye, Mac.”_

_“No!” said Mac, shaking his shoulders. “Dennis! What does that even mean?”_

***

Mac awoke gasping for air. Something had frightened him in his sleep but – shit. He couldn’t remember. Mac wiped away the sweat on his forehead, and hopped out of bed.

“Dennis, are you awake?” he asked as he left his room. The scent of bacon hit his nose; Dennis was cooking. Mac looked around the apartment in surprise; all of the broken shit had disappeared.

“Morning, Mac,” said Dennis as he flipped the bacon over in the pan.

“Morning,” said Mac. “Are you eating breakfast?”

“Why wouldn’t I eat breakfast?” he said, tipping the bacon onto a plate. Dennis smiled at Mac as he sat down; it didn’t reach his eyes. “Ladies want a guy with muscles – can’t have those if you don’t have protein.”

“True,” said Mac. He walked over to the pan to see if there was any bacon left over. “Is there any bacon left?”

Dennis took a bite, and pulled some papers towards him on the table. “Nope.”

“Goddammit,” said Mac. He grabbed some cereal from above the fridge, pulled out the milk, and made himself a bowl. Then he sat down at the table. Dennis flipped a page of what he was reading, and laughed.

“Have you read this shit?” he said, pushing the papers towards Mac. They were Dennis’s scribblings from when he was –

“No,” Mac lied. “What is it?”

“Some weird shit I must have written while I was drunk. It’s fucking hilarious,” said Dennis.

Mac flipped through the pages, pretending to read them. He let out a fake laugh.

“Oh man. Super funny, dude!” he said as a lead weight settled in his stomach.

Dennis pulled the pages back towards himself, and flipped to his spot.

“Goddamn. This is comedy gold,” he said. “I mean, the stuff about Moses alone –”

Mac stood up quickly, feeling nauseous, and said, “I gotta take a shit.”

Dennis nodded, not looking up from the page. “Make sure you Febreze in there so it doesn’t end up smelling like ass. Again.”

***

There was just enough time for Mac to turn on the fan and open the toilet before he became violently ill. He hadn’t remembered getting wasted – maybe it was something he ate. When he was done, Mac got shakily to his feet, and turned on the shower. He stripped, got in, and sat down. As the water beat down on his back, the nausea subsided.

Everything was going to be just fine.


End file.
